George Miller, the director of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, explained in an interview why he cast Anya Taylor-Joy as the new Furiosa in the upcoming film.
With Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel to Fury Road is set to be released soon. Directed by George Miller, the story depicts the young Furiosa trying to escape the biker horde led by Warlord Dementus while he is engaged in a power struggle with Immortal Joe.
George Miller revealed in an interview at Cinema Con 2024 why he chose Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit, Split) for the lead role.
Here’s a trailer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga:
“She has something mystical about her, yet she is easily approachable.”
As George Miller stated, he saw the actress in Last Night in Soho. Through Edgar Wright, the film’s director, he was able to view it early – and he was immediately taken with Anya Taylor-Joy, as he recounted:
I saw Anya in it and said, “She would be great for” – and he [Edgar Wright] said, “Do it, do it.”
Without me even telling him what it was, he said: “Do it. She’s incredible. She’s incredible.”
George Miller, Source: Screen Rant
The director of the new Mad Max film continued to rave about why the actress is perfect for the role of Furiosa and what she has in common with the previous actress of the character, Charlize Theron:
“She has something that is hard to put into words. She has something mystical about her, yet she is easily approachable. I learned that she is someone who is very, very disciplined, and she is very young. She was a ballet dancer, Charlize was a ballet dancer. I have worked with many brilliant dancers on ‘Happy Feet,’ and I understand the physical and emotional discipline that they possess. […]”
In the end, all of this led to Anya Taylor-Joy landing the lead role in the upcoming Mad Max film.
For more on Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, you can read here with our colleagues at Gamestar: Wait, is Mad Max appearing in Furiosa? Director George Miller makes a promising hint
Why was Chris Hemsworth cast? In the same interview, Miller also addressed his casting decision to take the Thor actor as Dementus in his film.
Initially, he hadn’t even considered Chris Hemsworth until the two met for a conversation. During that time, the director realized that the actor had numerous ideas for the role. Miller was so eager to see him in action that he cast him:
So I thought, “I can’t wait to see what he does.” He really engaged well with the material, so I thought, “Let’s see what he can make of it.”
When does Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga come out? In Germany, the film will be released in theaters next month. You can watch the new installment of the Mad Max series starting May 23, 2024.
Here you can find an opinion article by MeinMMO editor Schuhmann on Last Night in Soho:
I avoided a film by a great director because I thought it was cheesy – I was wrong
